


The Color of Your Wings (Dragon AU)

by Kyuubiluver342



Series: The Many Times Seto Kaiba Was In Debt To Joey Wheeler [14]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Dragon AU, Graphic Description, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Psychological Torture, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 06:06:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17595875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyuubiluver342/pseuds/Kyuubiluver342
Summary: Seto is the future prince of all dragons. With his pure white scales, he is on top of the world. And then he meets the strange human, Joey, living on dragon lands. Joey seemed to hate dragons, white dragons in particular. Can Seto figure out why?





	The Color of Your Wings (Dragon AU)

 

Prince Seto snarled and attempted to pull his wings from the barbed wire with no luck. The wire was tangled around his strong wings and nothing he did could get them out without ripping them somehow. The pain was almost blinding and he wondered if he had lost too much blood. Why had he decided to go flying today? Why hadn’t he considered the heavy winds before taking off? He had even been warned against it! The young prince sighed and rubbed his eyes, wondering what he was going to do now when he heard a twig snap.

His head snapped up and blue eyes met brown. He stared at the human that had gotten so very close to him without his knowledge and snarled. His eyes began to glow, his power began to gather in his throat.

“Leave!” he roared, mouth glowing.

The human just stared at him and then at his wings, helplessly tangled in the wire before moving closer. How the human had even managed to find him in such a dark forest was amazing, but also concerning. Had the human seen him fall from the sky? Seto snarled and pulled back, but the only ended up with his vision going spotty when that caused the wire to tug at his wings harder. 

He slumped against the ground, exhausted and felt shame creep up on his cheeks. This was horrible! How could he, the great white dragon prince, end up so pitiful! Especially in front of a lowly human! The shame burned in his belly.

“Leave!” he hissed again when the human came even closer.

“Oh stop.” the human said, rolling his eyes and the dragon prince’s back bristled.

“Excuse me! How dare you, you…!” Seto started.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, “lowly, disgusting human”. Heard it all before, big guy, now do you want help or what?” the human demanded as he pulled a blade from his pocket.

Horror filled his soul as he stared at the blade. The human couldn’t possibly think?!

“Absolutely not! I will not allow you to cut my wings! I’d rather die!” Seto roared angrily.

To cut a dragon’s wings was not only considered cruel, but illegal. Dragons needed their wings to survive, to remove them meant almost certain death. The human stared at him blankly before scowling. His face flushed red with anger.

“Look jackass, it ain’t even that kind of blade! It’s to cut wire, moron! Now sit still!” the human snapped.

The prince paused and stared at him. Realizing he had his undivided attention, the human grabbed some wire near his foot and cut through it with a quick jerk of his wrist. Blinking in awe, the prince allowed the human to edge closer, snipping the wire slowly until there was enough room for him to wiggle out. Finally free, he found himself staring at his wings and wincing. They were really badly torn up, but not completely damaged. To fly with them like this was a bad idea though, so he would have to let them heal first, which admittedly shouldn’t take too long. Dragons were known for healing rather fast.

The human grumbled as he cleaned up the wire. At first, Seto was confused, but then he realized it was probably a good idea. They didn’t want some poor animal to stumble across it and get stuck too. The human turned and seemed startled to see him still standing there, and maybe a little uneasy.

“Uhhh you good now?” the human asked.

“I cannot fly like this. My wings need time to heal.” Seto replied simply as he folded them against his back.

“Oh...will that take a while?” he asked, rubbing one of his shoulders.

“Not long at all.” Seto replied.

“Right. Ok then.” the human replied.

The humans started to walk and Seto followed. He didn’t actually know his way out of the forest after all and the human seemed to, so it was best to stick with him. The human glanced back at him a few times, uncertain, but kept moving. When they finally did make it to the end, Seto was curious to find a little house sitting on a hill nearby.

“Do you live here?” Seto asked curiously and the human sighed.

“Can’t exactly live anywhere else. Look, I helped you out, but now it’s time for you to…” the human said turning, only for the words to die on his tongue.

He stared at Seto with wide eyes, mouth hanging open, face pale. Seto stared back, curious about his sudden shock.

“You’re a white dragon.” the human whispered.

“I noticed.” Seto replied simply.

“W-What are you doing all the way out here?” the human muttered, stepping back.

“I was flying.” Seto said.

The human just stared at him before sighing deeply. Seto wasn’t sure why this human seemed so distressed. As far as he knew, humans and dragons really didn’t have a lot to do with each other. Dragons stayed to their towns, humans stayed to theirs, they didn’t often overlap. As the prince of dragons, Seto often dealt with humans just because he had to deal with any issues caused by them, but even so, he didn’t usually talk to humans one on one. Maybe the human just didn’t know how to act?

“Human.” Seto started.

“Joey.” the human butt in.

Seto blinked, startled. It was not often he was interrupted. This human just kept startling him.

“I see. Joey then. You have done me a great service and one I hope we can keep between ourselves, so I wish to offer you a reward. Name your price and it is your’s.” Seto said.

The human, now called Joey, looked at him. His eyes seemed so sad and miserable and Seto couldn’t understand why. He could ask for anything; gold, jewels, livestock, but instead of causing him joy, it just seemed to upset him.

“Look, Mister White Dragon, I don’t need anything from you. I helped you out because you were in need. I don’t need some fancy reward for being a good person.” Joey stated before turning away.

“Besides, you could never give me what I really want anyway. So just leave, ok? I’ll forget this ever happened and you can go on with your special dragon life, ok? I just want to be left alone.” Joey said as he started to move towards the house.

Seto frowned and followed him anyway. Getting closer to the house, he could see it was falling apart. It was basically being held up by random beams of wood nailed to the side of the house to keep the walls from caving in.

“Surely there is something I can get you. Gold? Livestock? Someone to repair your home? A new home, maybe?” Seto pushed.

Joey growled and Seto was startled to find it sounded very dragon-like. Had he grown up around dragons? That would certainly explain a lot.

“My home is perfectly fine, thank you. I’ve lived here all my life and it has served me just fine.” Joey snapped.

He was getting frustrated and so was Seto. They were almost to the house now and Seto could see even the land around it was rather barren. How was this human surviving like this? Eying his rather skinny form, Seto mentally corrected himself that Joey was just barely surviving at this point.

“Joey, even I can see this place is almost barren. At least allow me to give you something so you can get back on your feet for the time being.” Seto asked and Joey stopped.

Seto suddenly smelt blood and glanced down to see the man was clenching the wire so hard, he was now bleeding.

“Look, I don’t need your help or your charity ok? I just need you and all your other flying lizards to leave me alone! I just want to be left alone! So leave!” Joey snarled.

He stomped his way up to his house and slammed the door shut behind him. Seto stared in confusion and awe. No one had ever talked to him like that before. No one had ever dared. He was a white dragon, the prince in training to the next king of dragons. People cowered when he came close and no one ever dared to look him in the eyes before. Seto stretched his wings and found them to be healed. Taking one final look at the home before him, he turned and took to the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

Joey watched from the window as the white dragon left, one hand lightly laying on his shoulder. He watched with dark eyes as the white dragon took to the sky, jealousy pooling in his stomach as he watched those powerful wings take to the air. Closing his eyes, he sighed before moving towards his room. He should go out, try and salvage some food for dinner, but his appetite was gone. As he passed by the bathroom, he glanced in and paused. The broken mirror hung above the cracked sink and he moved towards it, almost hypnotized. Staring deeply at the man on the other side, he stared for a long time before reaching out for a towel.

Slowly and carefully, he wiped the makeup and dirt from his cheek until his own black scales finally peeked through. He swallowed as he did the other cheek next, eyes watering. Why had he done it? Why had he bothered to help? He could have just kept going, walked right on by and no one would have ever known. No one would have known at all. If the white dragon had died out there, no one could have blamed him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop his tears from flowing and his heart from pounding.

When he had originally seen the other male, he thought he was a lavender or tan dragon due to the shadows, but to know he was a white one...Joey swallowed hard. The white dragons had taken everything from him; his family, his life, everything, including the one thing no one would ever replace. He reached over and started the shower before pulling the clothes from his body. Glancing over his shoulder, he stared at the large scars on his back. The scars that now sat where his own black wings once had.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried not to think of the pain and fear of that day. His parents had moved out to the countryside after he was born, running away from the very type of dragon he had helped today. His mother had beautiful yellow wings, but his father, his father had ugly brown. Her parents had disowned her after they wed and he was an orphan, so no one was even supposed to know about him, the baby born with pure black wings. His parents had been terrified that he would be killed for his black wings, like so many other dragons had been, so they moved to the middle of nowhere, never let him go anywhere near town or school and just never talked about it.

They had been so happy when Serenity had been born with pretty orange wings to match her hair. They had sent her off to school, she got to go to town with their mother while Joey and his father stayed home, hidden from the world. It had been sweet, naive Serenity who had told her classmates about her brother’s wings, not understanding the danger she had put him in. A few days later, they had come, the dragon king along with the council, and demanded to see him. Joey could still remember their horrified faces, their disgusted eyes, their cruel words. His parents had begged for his life and so they agreed to spare him, but his wings, they said, had to go.

He remembered the pain, but not much else. He woken up some days later, wings gone and unable to understand why they would never grow back. Dragons healed very fast, didn’t they? Why couldn’t his wings just grow back? He remembered asking that question until he was blue in the face, holding onto that one little hope that they would grow back, but they never had. After that, everything had gone downhill for his family. His father fallen into drinking and his mother ended up leaving, taking Serenity to move back in with her parents far, far away. He hadn’t seen her since that day. His father had ended up drinking himself to death and Joey? Joey was left with a house full of memories that was slowly falling apart and nowhere else to go.

He stepped into the shower, ignoring the way it burned his skin and just stood there. He stayed in there until the water ran cold and then just went to bed.

 

Seto returned home to a disgruntled brother and a worried castle staff. His advisor, a young man by the name of Yugi, would definitely scold him later behind closed doors for going off on his own in such dangerous conditions, but to the public, he just seemed relieved to have his prince back. After being checked out and answering a million questions about where he had gone and why he had been gone so long, he was able to return to his room to shower and change without any more issues. He thought he would finally have some time to himself. Meanwhile his brother, Mokuba, was a different story.

“I told you already, I am fine.” Seto said as they walked to Seto’s room.

Mokuba crossed his arms, his own silvery wings flapped nervously before resting on his back.

“You were gone a long time, Seto. Everyone was worried sick. And then you come back covered in dirt!” Mokuba huffed and Seto flushed.

Seto coughed into his hand as he entered his room, the guards on either side of the door bowing deeply to the princes. They made sure to close the doors behind them.

“I had a little fall. I already told you that.” Seto muttered.

Mokuba hopped up onto his bed and rolled his eyes. He seemed completely unconvinced about this.

“I’m just saying, Seto. You don’t like to get dirty and certainly would never return to the castle looking like that.” Mokuba muttered.

Seto rolled his eyes as he pulled off his clothes. The shower was already started and Seto just wanted to bathe and then sleep. He hopped in and hoped Mokuba would take the hint to leave. He didn’t. Instead, Mokuba had other plans. As soon as Seto got out, Mokuba started talking.

“So tomorrow, the council wants us to go over some plans to expand the town. I already got a map of the surrounding area and I wanted to show you want I think we should do.” Mokuba said pulling a map out of his bag and laid it out on the bed.

As they went over the map, Seto realized that Mokuba wanted to expand the town towards the area where the strange human lived. In fact, if they expanded as much as Mokuba was suggesting, the human would most definitely be forced off his land. This had never concerned Seto in the past, but now? He owed the human and to take his land after all that seemed rude, but the map made things difficult. They were blocked by river on one side and mountain on the other, the only thing they could do was move that way.

“I am not quite sure we need to expand again. We just finished the last expansion.” Seto said after a moment.

Mokuba gave him a very bewildered look.

“Since when you are against expanding our kingdom? I mean I know we just finished, but our town is growing larger and larger every day. We have to keep up with the growing population.” Mokuba replied and Seto huffed.

He was right. Their town was growing more and more every day and they did need the room. He sat on the bed and looked at the floor, frowning.

“Seto, what is wrong?” Mokuba asked.

“It’s nothing, we will talk about it more tomorrow.” Seto said after a moment.

Mokuba didn’t seem to like that idea, but in the end, he gave in and left Seto alone with his thoughts. Seto didn’t sleep that night, his mind racing before finally getting up. It was just after dawn and he knew most of the castle would still be asleep. After getting dressed, he moved to his balcony and took off. He had a human to see.

He landed some time later, and found the human idly hammering away at one of the beams on his house. He landed just outside the front gate and waited to be invited in. When the human saw the dragon however, his hammer slipped and he smashed his thumb.

“GOD DAMNIT!” he roared, dropping the hammer.

Seto winced as the human continued to curse and rant before finally calming down.

“God, what do you want? I thought I made it clear yesterday that I don’t want anything from you.” Joey huffed.

Seto rolled his eyes. This human was rather loud and annoying. Why did he even bother coming back?

“I simply came to make sure you were still alive. You seemed very sick and pale yesterday.” Seto stated simply.

Joey huffed as he ripped a piece of his jacket and wrapped it around his thumb before he grabbed his hammer again.

“And I said I was fine. I’ve lived here all my life. I know the area well enough to be able to survive by now.” Joey replied.

Seto crossed his arms and thought hard. If they made the human move from this land, would he survive?

“What about your family? Do they live elsewhere?” Seto asked.

Joey paused and he seemed to swallow hard.

“My family’s gone. It’s only me now.” he replied.

Seto felt the sorrow in his chest and frowned. The human was all alone, out here without anyone to turn to if he needed help. What if he got injured? Or sick? No one would even know. Dragons were just as social as humans were and he knew of several dragons who went mad all by themselves. How had the human not lost his mind?

“You can’t keep going like this.” Seto explained and Joey sighed.

“There’s nowhere for me to go. Look, I don’t need anyone checking up on me, ok? I’m fine.” Joey said.

Seto growled under his breath, but nothing he did seemed to convince the human to leave and eventually, Seto had to return to the castle. Taking to the sky once more, he vowed that he would get the human somewhere better soon.

 

Days passed and Seto got in the routine of going to see the human every three days, early in the morning, trying to see if he could get anymore information or convince him to move. He never made it past the front gate, often talking to the human from a distance. Joey, however, was as stubborn as a mule. More often than not, the talking ending in yelling matches and Seto often left feeling more hopeless than before. It was Mokuba who caught him sneaking back into the castle one morning and confronted him.

“Look, Seto, I don’t know where you keep going or why, but this has to stop! People are noticing you missing! Guards are starting to get nervous that they will end up in trouble if you get hurt!” Mokuba growled and Seto sighed deeply.

“I’m sorry, but I had to do something.” he replied.

“About what? What could be so important that you are causing such chaos?” Mokuba demanded.

At first, Seto resisted, but damn Mokuba could be annoying when he wanted to be. Finally, Seto told him the whole story and when he was done, Mokuba had a very amused look on his face. 

“What?” Seto demanded and Mokuba just snickered.

“You are concerned about what some human thinks? Since when?” Mokuba asked.

“Since he saved my life. I owe him something for that.” Seto muttered and Mokuba frowned.

“I am confused though, I thought no humans were allowed to live in these lands. Isn’t that what ‘He’ declared?” Mokuba said making a sour face.

“He” was the original King, the one who had just passed away and the one Seto was set to  take over the throne from. The man had taken both Seto and Mokuba in as children due to their light colored wings and though he technically was their father, neither of them had ever truly liked him. He had been a cruel man and many of his laws were barbaric at best and savage at worst. These laws were very things Seto was hoping to undo when he took the throne. Seto frowned, Mokuba was right. A human should have no land in their terrority, so how was it that Joey had lived there all his life? Something was fishy here.

“Seto, the council is demanding you make a decision on this expansion soon. If you hold out any longer and they learn it’s because of some human, they could use this as a reason to keep you from the throne.” Mokuba whispered.

“I need to go speak with him again. If the council does want to expand again, he could be in danger.” Seto muttered.

 

The next morning, both Seto and Mokuba left the palace very early. They wanted to get there and back before anyone realized they were missing. As they flew, Mokuba wondered about the strange human on dragon lands. Humans usually stayed as far away from dragon lands as possible since it was so rocky and hard to navigate without wings. How could this human survive all this time without help? It didn’t make any sense and it made Mokuba uneasy. They landed on what looked to Mokuba to be an abandoned farm. He winced as he looked around and wondered how the house was even still standing.

“You again? And now you are bringing guests? Does this look like a social club to you?” a voice said from behind them.

Mokuba jumped, startled and turned to see a tall man with sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes. Over his shoulder, he carried some wood and Mokuba frowned when he saw it. How could a human lift that much wood with one hand so easily?

“I need to speak to you.” Seto stated and the human huffed, walking past them.

“Yeah and you keep showing up here and doing that. And I told you to leave me alone. What is with you dragons not understanding that?” he demanded angrily.

Mokuba huffed angrily. Did this human have any idea who he was talking to?

“Do you realize you are talking to the future king of dragons!” Mokuba snapped angrily.

“Mokuba!” Seto hissed angrily.

Joey stopped dead in his tracks, as if the words themselves had trapped him in one spot. His body began to shake and his head bowed. Seto and Mokuba stared, confused and uncertain.

“Leave or I will make you leave. You dragons aren’t welcome here!” he roared.

The yell seemed to echo around the area and Seto winced a bit. Mokuba, on the other hand, just became angrier.

“What is your problem! We came to talk to you about something important!” Mokuba snapped.

Joey whirled around and snarled, throwing a log at Mokuba that Seto caught before it could hit home. Seto snarled back, angry that Joey would dare attack them.

“You white dragons took EVERYTHING from me! Why would I listen to any of you! What left is there to take? My pride? My life? What!” Joey snarled.

“We took nothing from you. Your anger at us is misplaced.” Seto said, trying to be calm.

“Oh yeah, because I have two scars on my back and a father in the grave that says differently!” Joey snarled.

Mokuba stared at him in confusion, but Seto? Seto felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. It couldn’t be right, could it? He had heard the stories, he had heard the tales, but they had to be lies right?

“What does that even mean?” Mokuba asked.

Seto moved forward then, past the fence that he had so often stayed behind and to Joey’s side. He quickly grabbed Joey by the face and with the sleeve of his shirt, removed the makeup from Joey’s cheek. Joey didn’t even have a chance to stop him.

“You’re a dragon. A black scaled dragon.” Seto said in awe.

Mokuba’s mouth dropped, his eyes got wide. They had both heard about the black scaled dragons, about how they had gone extinct due to their own foolish pride, that they only brought pain and misfortune wherever they went due to their selfishness and cruelty, how they had basically killed themselves off until none were left. But to see one, face to face, that had lived?

“How? How are you still alive?” Mokuba asked, moving closer.

Joey ripped himself away and put distance between them. He was panicking, he had said too much, his secret was out. What could they do to him now?

“Because they took from me the one thing that could never be replaced. The one thing that made me a dragon.” Joey whispered.

“They took your wings.” Seto replied.

Mokuba’s eyes darted between Seto and Joey, amazed, yet horrified at the same time. Seto seemed as if he too was in shock.

“But that can’t be. Wing Destruction is illegal!” Mokuba said.

“Not if you’re the ones making the rules, I guess.” Joey replied.

Seto felt his stomach turn and wanted to be sick. This explained everything. Joey lived here because he was a dragon, he survived because dragons were notoriously hard to kill, and he was angry because, in a sense, they had taken everything from him. Joey was staring at them now, his scales on full display and Seto could only feel the utmost sorrow for him. He had suffered because of the coloring of his wings and the delusions of a few people. Mokuba stepped past the fence and stood next to Seto before pulling out the map.

“The dragon council is looking to expand our kingdom. If it goes through like they want it to, then your home is in the way.” he said showing Joey the map.

Joey stared in silence, his eyes dark and his face defeated. He looked lost and sad.

“So they will take this from me too?” he asked looking over his shoulder.

“What? They?” Mokuba asked.

“The king and the dragon council were the ones who took everything. They were the ones who destroyed my wings.” Joey muttered.

“That’s not possible. They wouldn’t do that.” Mokuba said, looking to Seto for reassurance, but Seto said nothing.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Joey demanded angrily.

“No, he’s just been lied to about everything. Just like I was.” Seto replied.

“What do you mean?” Joey asked.

“We were taught that the black dragons died out due to their own selfishness. It seems now the truth is out.” Seto muttered.

His lower lip trembled and Seto felt rage build in his stomach. Joey didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve to have so much taken from him in his short life because of wing color discrimination. Seto knew what he had to do.

“We will expand, but I think it’s time we returned you to the dragons where you belong. I refuse to have a subject of mine living out here any longer.” Seto said.

Joey stared at him, looking confused and uncertain. He idly rubbed as his cheek, smearing his makeup and showing more of his scales. Seto had to admit, he was a little fascinated by them. They were such a perfect black color that Seto wanted to stare at them forever. He had only ever seen black dragons in books and they were all made to be hideous and gross, their scales like liquid tar. Joey’s scales were beautiful, even covered in makeup and dirt, they still glittered like obsidian. 

“You don’t understand. No one will want me. I’m a black dragon. I’m cursed.” Joey muttered.

“I don’t care. They don’t have to want you. I want you. As the prince of dragons and future king, it is my job to fix the wrongs of my predecessor and this is one I can’t ignore.” Seto stated simply.

Joey stared at him, truly stared at him as if he didn’t know what to say. Mokuba was even looking at him now, unsure of what to make of his brother’s sudden declaration, but also agreeing with him. They couldn’t just turn a blind eye to it now. They would be no better than the former king if they did that.

“So what do we do now?” Joey asked softly and Seto frowned.

Seto thought about it for a moment. There were two options here that he could go with: One would be to hold off and try to build Joey up in the public’s eye before revealing him or two would be to drop the bombshell right now, reveal what the old king had done and maybe gather the people together to get rid of the old dragon council.

“We need to get rid of the dragon council. They are the ones with the most power and the ones who will cause the biggest problems. It will need to be swift and deliberate to get them out of the picture. And I know just how to do it, but you need to trust me on it.” Seto stated to Joey, who stared at him.

“How can you ask that of me?” Joey demanded.

“Because I know you are lonely and I know you are sick of it. You allowed me to come back here over and over again to talk to you. That means something.” Seto said simply.

Joey stared at him and then at Mokuba before sighing.

“I guess I don’t have anything left to lose.” Joey muttered.

“Good, now hold on.” Seto stated.

“Wha?” Joey yelped as he was picked up and held by Seto.

He struggled a bit and even Mokuba looked uncertain, but with one powerful leap, they were in the air and Joey clung to Seto for dear life. He shivered as they rose high into the air, eyes squeezed shut before slowly opening them. He gasped in awe, amazed by the beauty of the world around him. This, this is what he had missed out on. His wings had been too small for him to fly by himself and his parents had been too scared to take him out flying, fearful someone would see them.

“Its beautiful.” Joey whispered.

Seto glanced down at him, confused and then he understood. He flew slowly, taking his time. Mokuba kept glancing at him, confused, but didn’t say anything. They landed on the castle steps by noon and slowly, Seto lowered Joey to his feet. He seemed a little shaky, but after a moment, gathered himself and was fine. The guards seemed startled and unsure of what to do, but let them pass. Inside, Yugi was standing, waiting for them, looking highly annoyed.

“Your Highnesses, where have you been! It’s been an absolute mess looking for you!” Yugi said before pausing.

He was point blank staring at Joey in open shock, his eyes locked on the dark scales he now saw.

“Yugi, please have the town gather on the castle steps. There is an announcement I need to make immediately.” Seto demanded.

Seto took Joey by the arm and walked him past Yugi’s gasping form. Joey wondered where they were going and soon found himself in front of a huge set of doors that were opened by two guards. Inside, he found a royal bedchamber and paused.

“What’s going on?” Joey asked as Seto moved to his master bedroom and got a towel.

“I need you to reveal all your scales. That way everyone can see them.” Seto stated as Mokuba sat down on the bed.

Joey stared at him and then the towel before taking it. It was already damp, so he simply started wiping away the makeup on his neck and face. He usually kept his arms and legs covered, so he just rolled up his sleeves.

“Good, now while I talk, I just need you to be quiet ok?” Seto demanded.

Joey scowled and crossed his arms. He still didn’t like to be told what to do.

“Depends on what you say. I hope you don’t plan on telling my whole life story.” Joey replied.

“No, just the parts that count. Let’s go.” Seto grabbed his arm again and pulled him along, causing Mokuba to stumble after them to keep up.

“Seto, are you sure about this?” Mokuba asked.

“As sure as I could ever be.” Seto replied.

When they got to the front door, they could already hear the crowd outside and Joey suddenly felt very anxious, but Seto didn’t even pause. He pushed open the doors and stepped out into the light. Joey went to follow, but Mokuba held him back.

“Just wait.” he whispered.

Seto stepped out and the crowd went silent. They wanted to see what their prince was about to say.

“My people. Today, it has come to my attention that a tragedy has taken place against our people and we have been lied to in order to cover it up.” Seto started.

The crowd seemed to become jittery for a moment before settling down.

“My father, the King, once told me that when you start to treat your people with disrespect, they will never respect you again. I always believed him to be a wise man, but now, I fear his wisdom hid his arrogance.” Seto continued.

“Today it was brought to my attention that one final black scaled dragon still exists and he has a story to tell.” Seto said as the crowd gasped.

Mokuba let Joey go and he swallowed before stepping forward. At first, no one paid attention to him, but then, the whispers started. He stepped up next to Seto and looked out over the sea of dragons, their eyes all on him now.

“My prince, what is the meaning of this!” one dragon cried.

“The black dragons went extinct years ago!” another yelled.

“Yes, they did, but not by their own choice. The story we all have been told was a lie. The truth is that the former king was the reason the black dragons went extinct.” Seto replied.

The crowd was agasp, horrified by the very idea.

“How can you say such a thing!” a dragon yelled in anger.

“Don’t believe his lies, my prince!” another cried.

Seto grit his teeth before sighing. He stepped forward and held out his arms, but Joey cut him off.

“What lies? You all want to believe your king so badly that you would say I’m a liar? That man stole my wings!” Joey roared.

The crowd was becoming hostile. Some wanted to believe, but others were angry. They didn’t want to think of such a thing. Finally, Joey turned and ripped the clothes from his back, showing his scars and just underneath them, the royal seal of the King branded into his back. The crowd went dead silent, staring in horror.

“Your king was there the day they ripped my wings from my back. Your dragon council was there, watching as a child had his wings removed. I was a child!” Joey turned around then.

“I was a child who was born with black wings, but I did nothing wrong to deserve this.” Joey said softly.

The crowd seemed almost spellbound. Like they couldn’t even understand what they were seeing. What they were hearing. Joey stepped forward and spoke again.

“I was a child born with black wings. My parents feared for my life and ran to the hills outside town, where we lived. I was not allowed to go to town or school. I was not allowed to go out when people were around. I lived in fear that one day, they would come for me and then they did. I was a child and they took my wings because they were the wrong color. Does that sound right to any of you? Because it never made sense to me.” Joey explained.

Seto was almost proud of how strong Joey sounded in the end. He was sincere and calm, but his anger was clear. He had been wronged and he wanted the world to know. The crowd started to part in the back just then and Seto could see the dragon council making their way towards the front.

“Guards! Detain the council! We must speak with them on this matter!” Seto ordered.

The council was quickly rounded up and while the crowd cheered, he knew he would have an uphill battle still. They had been in control so long, he doubted they would go down without a fight. As the crowd thinned out, Seto led Joey from the steps and back into the castle. He seemed shaky and kept wringing his shirt in his hands, but gently Seto tugged it free.

“You did it.” Seto muttered and Joey just smiled.

“It felt good. To tell what happened. To know they will have to answer for it now.” Joey muttered.

“They will answer and they will pay. I can promise you that. Think of it as your reward for saving my life.” Seto said.

Joey laughed and it was light, airy. As if the weight on his chest was finally gone and he could breathe again. Seto felt a small flutter in his chest and smiled. 

“Your Highness, I apologize, but someone wishes to speak to you?” a guard called.

They turned to see a young woman with light colored orange wings. Her eyes were full of tears and she looked so happy.

“Serenity?” Joey whispered softly.

“Joey. Oh big brother!” the woman yelled before she ran forward and hugged him.

She cried loudly, clinging to him desperately and Joey clung back. He pressed her close to his own body, tears gathering in his eyes. The sight was so sad, yet so beautiful. Seto and Mokuba stood back and let the siblings have their reunion.

This might not heal all of Joey’s wounds and maybe they would never all be healed, but Seto was pretty sure this was a step in the right direction at least. And it was a step they took together. Who knew that one day, the white dragon prince would marry the wingless black dragon? Certainly not these two.


End file.
